The Re-Animation Reagent

I recently rewatched the excellent Stuart Gordon film Re-Animator (a loose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "Herbert West - Reanimator"), and I immediately found myself wanting to write up the re-animation solution from the film as an item for OSR games. So here it is!


(Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West)

West's Reagent
The re-animation solution created by Dr. Herbert West has a consistency similar to milk, and glows bright green. It is typically found in small, plastic or glass containers, holding 1d6 doses each.

When injected into living tissue, it revitalizes and rejuvenates the user, causing them to regain 1d6+1 hit points and not need to sleep or eat for 24 hours. However, it is highly addictive, and after a week of consistent use, one must make a saving throw each day they do not take the reagent or take 1d3 damage and a -2 penalty to attack rolls for the day. This withdrawal lasts 1d3 weeks. However, the primary effect of the drug occurs when injected into corpses.

When a single dose is injected into dead tissue, it re-animates the corpse, though the effects vary dramatically from creature to creature, and is affected by how long the animal/person has been dead. Determine the freshness of the corpse, and then roll a d6 on the corresponding table.

Less than an hour dead
1. The creature rises up, makes a terrible noise, and then expires
2-3. The creature comes back as a mindless zombie, intent only on killing
4-5. The creature comes back aggressive and violent, but does retain some memories from life, and may not attack creatures that it had emotional connection to in life, and may even obey simple commands
6. The creature comes back to life with all its mental abilities intact

Dead for a day
1-2. The creature rises up, makes a terrible noise, and then expires
3-5. The creature comes back as a mindless zombie, intent only on killing
6. The creature comes back aggressive and violent, but does retain some memories from life, and may not attack creatures that it had emotional connection to in life, and may even obey simple commands

Dead for more than a day
1. Nothing happens
2-3. The creature rises up, makes a terrible noise, and then expires
4-6. The creature comes back as a mindless zombie, intent only on killing

Dead for over a week
1-3. Nothing happens
4-5. The creature rises up, makes a terrible noise, and then expires
6. The creature comes back as a mindless zombie, intent only on killing

(Taken from Re-Animator)

Overdose!

If more than one dose is injected into a subject within 24 hours, living or dead, the body will begin to rapidly mutate and fall apart into 2d6 body parts, each with 1d3 HP, AC unarmored, and 1 attack dealing 1d3 damage. In the case of living subjects, a saving throw can be made to avoid this effect, instead simply regaining an additional 1d6+1 HP.

Zombies made as a result of West's Reagent have the following statistics, and move as fast or faster than they did in life:

Re-Animated Zombie
HD As in life +1
AC Unarmored or by armor worn
ATK 2 unarmed attacks
DMG 1d6
HDE as hit dice


(Taken from Re-Animator)

Porting The Reagent To A Fantasy Setting

• The goo drips from a rare flower in the South, and is used by a death cult
• A meteor crashed into the woods, composed of small crystals full of the green fluid
• An alchemist by the name of Helibert Westen created the substance in an attempt to create the philosopher's stone
• It is a venom extracted from a demonic spider
• Pre-human serpent-folk created the formula, and it once allowed them to live forever, but over the aeons it has become the unstable chemical that is found today
• It is refined ectoplasm, harvested from ghosts and altered through unholy rituals